Earlier this month, Stuart Shephard, director of digital media at Focus on the Family made a video in which he advocated praying for a torrential downpour to interrupt Barack Obama’s open-air acceptance speech at Denver’s INVESCO Field during the Democratic Convention this past Thursday:

Shephard: I’m just an ordinary guy who’s looking for people… lots of people who feel like I do to pray for rain. Now I know that there’ll probably be people who’ll pray for 72 degrees and clear skies, but this isn’t a contest.[…]
If God decides that rain of biblical proportions would be a good and proper meteorological condition for that evening, we’ll see it, and we’ll say that it is good.

Thursday came and went in Denver and Obama gave a wonderful speech at INVESCO field undisturbed by any divine meteorological conditions. By all accounts, the weather was beautiful (72-74 degrees, I’m told).

Meanwhile, a Category 3 Hurricane Gustav is about to plow through New Orleans. Though it’s doubtful that it’ll make its way as far north as St. Paul, Minnesota, nevertheless the Republican Party is leery to be running a convention while the Big Easy is about to take another pummeling under G-Dub’s watch.

So, reports are that the Republican Convention may be cut back a day while the forces of nature answer the prayers of Stuart Shephard and Focus on the Family, albeit in a manner just a little bit different than they were asking for.

Shephard: Is it wrong to pray for rain?

Only if you’re not a self-righteous prick, Stuart. So by all means: pray on.